Blog

In the weeks prior to Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, CPD worked closely with our affiliates across the country and particularly in key states such as Florida, Ohio and Minnesota,...

In the weeks prior to Neil Gorsuch’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, CPD worked closely with our affiliates across the country and particularly in key states such as Florida, Ohio and Minnesota, to pile pressure on Senators to oppose the confirmation of Gorsuch. CPD Action’s #BlockGorsuch digital campaign targeted 13 states and drove more than 30,000 people to contact their senators to oppose Trump’s nominee.

By Monday, April 3, all but four senators announced they would oppose his nomination. This secured enough opposition to prevent Gorsuch from receiving the 60 votes necessary to confirm him.

CPD affiliate Organize Florida played a key role in lobbying Senator Bill Nelson to vote no, for example. Their very first time lobbying, member leaders descended on Senator Bill Nelson’s office in Washington, DC to make their voices heard.

And yet, instead of responding to the concerns of the people and the forty four Senators who stood up against Gorsuch’s nomination, Senator McConnell and the rest of Senate Republicans ignored the will of the people, and decided to break the 200 year-old Senate rule on confirmations for the sole purpose of confirming an extreme right-wing judge who has a consistent track record of siding with corporations over the interests of working people. While this partisan power grab was a blow, the CPD Network will continue to support and move concerned citizens to make it clear to our elected officials, that Trump’s hateful agenda is unacceptable.

Since March 24, when millions of Americans celebrated blocking President Trump’s plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Republicans in Congress have continued to scheme as to how to take...

Since March 24, when millions of Americans celebrated blocking President Trump’s plan to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, Republicans in Congress have continued to scheme as to how to take healthcare away from an estimated 24 million Americans. The CPD Network continues to fight at the local level, holding our elected officials accountable to ensure their constituents have a health care system that works for all.

On April 18, in 15 states across the country, Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) released a new report examining the harmful effects on health care and tax fairness that would result if the Affordable Care Act were repealed and replaced by the House Republican plan.

Seven CPD affiliates released state-specific reports that included numbers for all the report’s major findings in Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Minnesota, North Carolina, and Vermont.

Click here to read the report and see if your state could be affected by the irresponsible House Republican plan.

On April 15, thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country to demand President Trump release his tax returns and hold the wealthy accountable for taxes working people pay each year...

On April 15, thousands of protesters took to the streets across the country to demand President Trump release his tax returns and hold the wealthy accountable for taxes working people pay each year. CPD joined the coalition of seventy organizations, labor unions, and economic justice advocates fighting for a tax system where all Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status, have the opportunity to reach their highest potential. Protests impacted more than 100 cities across the country with an estimated combined attendance of over 120,000.

CPD Action worked to promote the Tax March in the weeks leading up to Saturday, April 15, including sharing an op-ed on why, “The Tax Day March Is Not Just About Trump’s Taxes. The article explains, that “The nine largest banks in America… have used loopholes and other tax dodging schemes to lower their tax rate [to] a lower rate than what millions of middle class families pay… These billions of dollars could have been used to fund public services that millions [...] rely on, like public housing, healthcare, and education.”

CPD affiliate New York Communities for Change (NYCC) followed up with a direct action on April 18, targeting Wall Street profiteers who stand to gain from Trump’s tax plan. Dozens of activists protested outside Goldman Sachs, one of the nine largest banks in America and a bank that continues to dodge billions in taxes each year. Billionaires must be held accountable and pay their fair share of taxes: “Unlike Donald Trump, most Americans don’t mind paying their taxes. What they object to is letting the rich and powerful avoid paying theirs. It’s time for the one percent to step up to the plate.”

As President Trump approaches his 100th day in office and continues to push his anti-immigrant, anti-worker agenda, some of the country’s largest corporations are standing by the President and are...

As President Trump approaches his 100th day in office and continues to push his anti-immigrant, anti-worker agenda, some of the country’s largest corporations are standing by the President and are positioning themselves to profit from his hateful agenda. Today, CPD is launching the “Corporate Backers of Hate” campaign to target some of the companies which most egregiously prioritize profits over people - including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Blackstone, Black Rock, IBM, Boeing, Disney, and Uber. For these companies, the Trump administration offers an opportunity to profit from the mass suffering and the exploitation of others.

Trump's policies have a tremendous human impact - for example, his ramped up immigration enforcement is tearing families apart. On May Day, CPD partner organizations around the country are organizing direct actions against the corporations that are complicit with - and profiting from - the border wall and the detention and deportation of immigrant families.

While there is a long history of corporations profiting from the exploitation of our communities, since election day, many of these corporations have joined Trump’s business council and have begun to aggressively pursue “market opportunities” tied to Trump’s agenda. These corporations impact all the issues our network works on: from immigration to workers’ rights, education to mass incarceration, economic to LGBTQ justice, affordable housing, voting rights and money in politics, and assaults on the environment.

The Corporate Backers of Hate campaign will include direct actions, a social and digital media strategy, and municipal and state campaigns to review and limit business dealings with these companies. You can support our efforts by visiting this website and by sending emails direct to CEOs and board members of these corporations.

On Monday, March 27, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions reiterated Trump’s threats to cut funding to sanctuary cities, local elected officials from across the country gathered to plan how we can fight...

On Monday, March 27, as Attorney General Jeff Sessions reiterated Trump’s threats to cut funding to sanctuary cities, local elected officials from across the country gathered to plan how we can fight back together.

Seeking Sanctuary: Municipal Policy to Confront Mass Deportation and Criminalization, a national convening hosted by Local Progress, Center for Popular Democracy, and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito brought together elected officials from 30 cities and counties across the country to share policy innovations, litigation strategies, and ways in which local leaders can disrupt Trump's deportation policies.

In conjunction with the gathering, we released a practical toolkit, including sample language for local legislation, for policy makers and advocates advancing policies to keep families together.

The two-day #SeekingSanctuary convening covered a range of policies to fight unconstitutional attempts to separate immigrant families, including: Policies to ensure that local law enforcement agents are not being coopted to enforce unjust and unconstitutional deportation mandates. For more details on these policies, check out our toolkit.

Programs providing access to counsel. Participants toured and learned about New York City’s innovative New York Immigrant Family Unity Program, which provides legal counsel to immigrants facing deportations and increases the chances they will win their case by over 1,000 percent. San Francisco and Chicago have also recently increased their financial commitment to providing representation to immigrants facing deportation.

Criminal justice reforms like Seattle’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion Program which minimize the risk of immigrants being swept into the broken criminal justice system, and put at risk for deportation, based on minor offenses.

We heard from Santa Clara Board President David Cortese and Supervisor Cindy Chavez about the county’s lawsuit against Trump’s unconstitutional executive order threatening funding to sanctuary cities, which has been joined by over forty cities and counties across the country, Commissioner Chuy Garcia and Councilmember Carlos Ramirez Rosa about the tragic impacts of aggressive ICE raids in Chicago and from Austin Councilmember Greg Casar about the impact of state level threats, which have already resulted in Austin losing $1.5m in state funding and include a bill that threatens to criminalize local elected officials from office for refusing co-option of local resources by ICE. And we were joined by dozens of legal experts, community organizers and policy wonks who discussed how elected officials are a part of a national movement to fight back together against the unjust and unconstitutional anti-immigrant policies of this administration.

The event was covered by NBC News, The Huffington Post, Democracy Now, Telemundo and dozens of other national and local outlets.

This event was made possible through a partnership with New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and with funding from the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundation and the Latino Victory Foundation.

Yesterday, the Center for Popular Democracy brought over a thousand people together in Washington D.C. to protest the Republican plan to take healthcare from an estimated 24 million Americans. This...

Yesterday, the Center for Popular Democracy brought over a thousand people together in Washington D.C. to protest the Republican plan to take healthcare from an estimated 24 million Americans. This afternoon, March 24, Republicans pulled their bill from the floor.

With today's failure to repeal the Affordable Care Act, we see the fruits of our resistance. And while many battles lie ahead - including the ongoing fight to defend and extend our recent gains on healthcare - today's vote marks a crucial step for working families, in particular the 24 million who would have lost coverage under Trump/RyanCare.

The #WeFightBack rally and march included CPD affiliates: New York Communities for Change, One Pennsylvania, CASA, New Virginia Majority, Delaware Alliance for Community Advancement (DACA), Maryland Communities United, Make the Road New York, Make the Road New Jersey, Make the Road Connecticut and Make the Road Pennsylvania, and allies Health Care for America Now (HCAN), Planned Parenthood Federation of America, PICO, SEIU, People’s Action, and many others.

Together, members of the CPD Network marched to the White House to ramp up pressure on President Donald Trump to halt his plans to take health care from American who need it most. Along the way, we staged a die-in in front of Trump International Hotel to highlight the serious consequences of the Republican repeal bill. Symbolizing the 24 million people who would lose their health insurance under this repeal, 24 of our brothers and sisters were arrested after refusing to cede their ground in front of the White House.

The livestream by our sister organization, CPD Action, reached 790,000 Facebook timelines and, trending online, #WeFightBack appeared 2.3 million times on Twitter. You can check out photos from the day’s events on our Facebook page.

The fight for healthcare is just one battle in what will be a long road ahead to protect our liberty from the billionaires and hatemongers that seek to divide us. #WeFightBack will continue to hold President Trump accountable for his infringement upon our freedom and will remain guided by this belief: Through our collective action we will transform America into a country where everyone is entitled to dignity, every worker earns a living wage, where #BlackLivesMatter, no human is illegal, and most importantly, where everyone has the freedoms promised by our Constitution.

For the past eight years, as gridlock has frequently halted progress at the national level, hundreds of progressive elected officials have been on the offensive at the city and municipal level....

For the past eight years, as gridlock has frequently halted progress at the national level, hundreds of progressive elected officials have been on the offensive at the city and municipal level.

Progressive elected officials have been working to coordinate campaigns to pass paid sick days legislation and raise the minimum wage, protect immigrant communities, and hold police accountable for true community safety. Cities across the nation have become the center of policy innovation in our country. The work is anchored by Local Progress, a network of hundreds of municipal legislators working together to accelerate these changes across our cities. Local Progress is staffed by the Center for Popular Democracy.

From March 3-5, Local Progress hosted its second annual Local Progress New York conference in Albany, which brought together around 80 local elected officials from across the state.

Just as it had last year, the event lifted up the common cause that exists among leaders with progressive values trying to serve their communities across rural, urban and suburban geographies. The gathering allowed Local Progress members to have real and deep conversations across a diverse array of topics including celebrating the half dozen New York cities and counties who have adopted sanctuary status since the election and discussing how to pass them in more places. Members also discussed police reform, and the challenges smaller municipalities face from underfunded and crumbling infrastructure.

Fortunately, there are hundreds of inspiring progressives in local offices, in red and blue states, in cities and counties and towns, throughout the United States. This past year, more than 19 cities and counties across the country improved the lives of millions of workers by increasing living or minimum wages or implementing paid sick leave policies. Our members led fights for affordable housing ranging from passing rent control in Richmond, CA to creating the first ever dedicated local funding sources aimed at raising more than $150 million over the next decade for affordable housing in Denver, CO. In Seattle, San Jose and New York, members pushed through innovative policies that include supporting the rights of Uber drivers to organize and to advancing fair workweek policies so employees can have greater control over their schedules.

In the coming year, this work will focus on resistance and fighting back against hate and injustice at the local and municipal level.

The CPD Network is proud to announce the launch of its new Leadership Council (LC). In these uncertain times, we need community and leadership more than ever before. The LC will be the embodiment of...

The CPD Network is proud to announce the launch of its new Leadership Council (LC). In these uncertain times, we need community and leadership more than ever before. The LC will be the embodiment of our vision for a true, popular democracy. It will be made up of three to five staff and member leaders from each of our network affiliates and will provide for a strong voice and input into the direction of the network for all affiliates. The LC will also make space for sharing and learning from each other. CPD’s inaugural Leadership Council will be meeting from March 21-23 in Washington, D.C.

From January 23 to February 3, CPD's Sustainability Initiative, in partnership with Membership Drive, held its first National Canvass Director Bootcamp in Seattle. Our training team worked with...

From January 23 to February 3, CPD's Sustainability Initiative, in partnership with Membership Drive, held its first National Canvass Director Bootcamp in Seattle. Our training team worked with canvass directors across the country to develop the skills and strategies necessary to build dues paying membership canvass drives. The programs are designed to generate significant revenue for participating partners and dramatically increase organization membership over the coming years.

Canvass directors from Working Washington, Take Action Minnesota, VOCAL-NY, Make the Road Pennsylvania, and ACCE participated. The trainees spent a week in the field signing up members for our host, Working Washington. They also spent an intensive week in management training, and workshops on messaging skills, recruitment techniques and statistical analysis.

The goal of CPD’s Sustainability Initiative is to develop canvass programs capable of generating 50% to 75% of an organization's operating budget within five years.

On February 26, CPD joined MoveOn, Working Families Party, and People’s Action to co-host a “Ready to Resist” national phone call for activists around the country. An incredible 30,000 people joined...

On February 26, CPD joined MoveOn, Working Families Party, and People’s Action to co-host a “Ready to Resist” national phone call for activists around the country. An incredible 30,000 people joined to learn more about the challenges ahead and to understand where there may be opportunities to join in, take action and make their voices heard.

An audio recording of the call along with slides from the meeting are available at moveon.org/readytoresist! You can also RSVP for the next “Ready to Resist” mass movement call on April 2 and join tens of thousands of people united in our movement to resist Trumpism and protect our communities.

CPD Impact

Nov 2016: During 2016, the Federal Reserve made an historic shift in how it makes the most important economic decisions in the country. For the first time they are taking into account low-income communities of color. For the past 100 years the Fed has been dominated by white, male, corporate executives who have cared little about building an economy that works for everyone.